Standarized theme handling for digital television

ABSTRACT

Genre or theme assignment data ( 104 ) for a program in a digital television or other data transmission is recovered by a receiver ( 100 ) and mapped to a genre in a standardized genre assignment schedule ( 240 ). A country associated with the transmission is identified, such as by obtaining a country code ( 105 ) from the digital data transmission, or via a receiver setting. A genre assignment schedule is identified based on the country. Data, such as user nibbles ( 220 ) or standard content nibbles ( 230 ), is obtained from the transmission to identify the original genre and assign the program to a corresponding standardized genre.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 10/567,394,filed Feb. 7, 2006, (now U.S. Pat. No. 7,503,058, issued Mar. 10, 2009)which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional application Ser. Nos.60/493,264 and 60/529,429 filed Aug. 7, 2003 and Dec. 11, 2003,respectively, which are incorporated herein in whole by reference.

The invention relates generally to digital television communicationsand, more particularly, to a technique for providing standardizedthemes, e.g., genres, for programs.

Digital television communications have become increasingly popular dueto the quality of the audio and video signals and the various featuresthat can be realized. For example, standards defined by the DigitalVideo Broadcasting (DVB) consortium have been implemented in many partsof the world. Among other things, these standards include a series oftransmission specifications, including DVB-S, a satellite transmissionstandard, DVB-C, a cable delivery standard, and DVB-T, a terrestrialtransmission standard. DVB-T is a sophisticated and flexible digitalterrestrial transmission system that is based on COFDM (Coded OrthogonalFrequency Divisional Multiplexing) and QPSK, 16 QAM and 64 QAMmodulation. DVB-T allows services providers to match, and even improveon, analogue coverage, at a fraction of the power. Moreover, it extendsthe scope of digital terrestrial television in the mobile field, such asto portable hand-held devices.

Digital television transmissions include theme assignments, also knownas genre assignments, for the different programs carried in thetransmissions. The genres describe a category in which a program isplaced, e.g., to assist the user in selecting a program or blocking aprogram. For example, genres include movies, news, sports, children'sprograms, and the like. However, a problem arises in that a receivermust be configured for the specific genre assignment scheme of thetransmissions it receives. Costs are increased since receivers withdifferent configurations must be maintained and deployed, e.g., indifferent countries. For example, for DVB-T receivers in Europe, thereis the problem that D-book and E-book genres do not agree. Moreover,Spain has introduced its own set of genres based on the E-book withextensions.

Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a method and apparatus foraddressing the above and other issues.

In a particular aspect of the invention, a method provides standardizedgenre assignments. The method includes receiving at least a firstdigital data transmission, wherein at least one program in the firstdigital data transmission is associated with a genre according to afirst genre assignment schedule, identifying a jurisdiction associatedwith the first genre assignment schedule, obtaining data from the firstdigital data transmission that identifies the associated genre, andmapping the at least one program to a genre in a standardized genreassignment schedule according to the associated identified jurisdictionand the associated identified genre.

A related receiver and program storage device are also provided.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 illustrates an example receiver for providing genre assignments,according to the invention; and

FIG. 2 illustrates a method for providing genre assignments, accordingto the invention.

In all the Figures, corresponding parts are referenced by the samereference numerals.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example receiver for providing genre assignmentsaccording to the invention. Block 102 is a “tuner and decoder.” Block103 is “control circuitry.” Block 113 is a “memory”. Block 104 is a“genre data” memory. Block 105 is a “country/region setting” memory.Block 107 is “output circuitry”. Block 106 is a “user interface.” Block110 is a “display”.

The receiver 100 receives one or more digital television transmissionsfrom one or more respective transmitters. For example, a transmissionmay be received that is associated with the same country in which thereceiver 100 is located. The user may provide a country and/or regionsetting for the receiver, which does not necessarily have to correspondwith the actual location of the receiver. The receiver 100 may beessentially any suitable data receiver, including Digital HomeEquipment, e.g., a digital TV, an interactive digital TV (iDTV) set-topbox (STB), personal video recorder (PVR), Digital Audio, or DVD. Thereceiver may further include a mobile receiver such as a PDA or mobilephone.

In accordance with the invention, the genre assignment data from thereceived transmission is mapped to a standardized genre assignment. Inthe DVB system, the genre assignment data for each program is denoted bythe term content_descriptor, as discussed in further detail below.However, the invention is suitable for use with other digital datatransmission schemes. The transmissions from different countries orother jurisdictions can have different content descriptor data. Thejurisdiction can be a country, group of countries, portion of a country,a region such as Europe, a city, and so forth. Advantageously, thereceiver 100 can be provided in any location, where it reads theoriginal genre assignment data of the received transmission that isprovided by the broadcaster, and maps it to a standardized genreassignment schedule. The invention obviates the need forcountry-specific receivers.

In one possible approach, the invention is implemented using componentswithin a television set-top box receiver, e.g., receiver 100 thatreceives a television signal via an input path 101, such as an antenna,and outputs a signal for display on a display device 110 such as atelevision via signal output path 108. However, the invention isgenerally applicable to any type of device that receives video and/oraudio programs. For example, the invention may be implemented in acomputer that receives video programs from a network such as theInternet, e.g., by downloading, streaming or broadcasting, such aswebcasting. The video programs typically include an audio track althoughthis is not required. Moreover, the invention can be used withaudio-only programs such as those provided via the Internet, e.g., aswebcasts, or via radio broadcasts, including terrestrial and satelliteradio broadcasts.

The receiver 100 tunes, demultiplexes and decodes the received programsat a tuner/decoder 102. The genre assignment data carried in thereceived transmission is also tuned, decoded and recovered by thetuner/demultiplexer/decoder 102 and provided to control circuitry 103.The programs may be provided in a digital or analog multiplex that istransmitted by cable, satellite, or terrestrial broadcast, for example.Generally, one of the programs is decoded based on a channel selectionmade by the user/viewer via a handheld remote control. A user inputsignal from the remote control is processed by a user interface function106 in the receiver 100. The remote control may use any type ofcommunication path 109, such as infrared, wired, ultrasound, radiofrequency, etc. When the user selects a channel via the user interface106, the control circuitry 103 recovers the corresponding program, e.g.,using information such as packet identifiers (PIDs), from the receivedtransmission.

The decoded program may be communicated to the display device 110 viaoutput circuitry 107 or stored locally for subsequent display. Controlcircuitry 103, such as a microprocessor with a working memory 113, mayinteract with the tuner/decoder 102 to control the functions of thetuner/decoder 102. The working memory 113 may be considered a programstorage device that stores software that is executed by the controlcircuitry 103 to achieve the functionality described herein. However,resources for storing and processing instructions such as software toachieve the desired functionality may be provided using any knowntechniques.

The control circuitry 103 stores the genre assignment data in a genredata memory 104. A country and/or region setting may be stored in amemory 105 for use by the control circuitry 103 in its decision-makingprocesses. The memories 103 and 105 are shown as being separate but maybe combined with other memory resources. The country and region settingmay be provided by the user via the user interface 106, or set by ahardware configuration, e.g., switch, at the receiver, such as at thetime of manufacture or installation.

In some cases, the genres of the standardized genre assignment scheduleare the same as the original genre assignments. For example, theoriginal genre of “sports” in a received transmission may be mapped tothe standardized genre of “sports”. In other cases, multiple genres canbe mapped to a singe genre. For example, genres of “baseball” and“football” can both be mapped to the genre of “sports”. The standardizedgenre assignments may be used to assist the user in locating a program.For example, an on-screen program guide may list the programs accordingto the standardized genre assignments. Moreover, a blocking feature mayuse the standardized genre assignments so that programs associated witha particular genre are blocked from viewing.

The invention provides standardized genre assignments that allow onereceiver to be used all over Europe or other region where diverse genreassignments schemes are used. As mentioned, for DVB-T receivers inEurope, genre handling is a problem since D-book and E-book do notagree. Spain introduced its own set of genres, based on E-book withextensions. The D-Book is a shorthand reference to the “Requirements forinteroperability for UK Digital Terrestrial Television D-Book”, providedby the Digital Television Group (DTG). The text contains details forimplementing the DVB standards, and has been adopted in the UK. TheE-book refers to a related standard that has been adopted in Europe.

The following is a summary of the tables provided herein:

Table 1—Overview of genre assignments for different countries

Table 2—standardized genre assignments (invention)

Table 3—E-book content descriptors

Table 4—E-book genre assignments

Table 5—Spain genre assignments

Table 6—Australia genre assignments

Table 7—UK D-book genre assignments

Table 8—Finland genre assignments

Table 9—Sweden genre assignments

Table 10—illustrates a content description behavior

An overview of the genre assignment schedules or tables for E-book,Spain, Australia, GBR D-book, and Sweden is provided in Table 1. Thefirst column of the table indicates the standard content nibble. Anibble is a half-byte of data. This is data in the received transmissionthat associates a genre with a program. Note that the followingabbreviations may be used herein: ESP—Spain, UK—United Kingdom,GBR—Great Britain, AUS—Australia, SWE—Sweden.

TABLE 1 Overview of genre assignments for different countries GBR NibbleE-book ESP AUS D-book SWE 0x0 Undefined Sin definir UndefinedUnclassified Odefinierat (undefined) (unclassified) 0x1 Movie/Drama Cine(cinema) Movie Movie Film (movie) 0x2 News/Current Informativo News Newsand Nyheter affairs (informative) Factual (news/current affairs) 0x3Show/Game Entretenimiento Entertainment Entertainment Nöje show(entertainment) (entertainment) 0x4 Sports Deporte (sports) Sport SportSport 0x5 Children's/ Infantil Children's Children's Barn Youth(infantile) (children's/ programmes youth) 0x6 Music/Ballet/ Musica(music) Music Entertainment Musik Dance (music) 0x7 Arts/CultureDocumental Arts/Culture News and Kultur without music (documentary)Factual (culture without music) 0x8 Social/ Magazine Current affairsNews and Politik Political Factual (Social/ issues/ Political Economicsissues/ Economics) 0x9 Children's Televentas Education/ EducationUtbildning Youth: (tele-sales) information (education/ Education/science) Science/ Factual topics 0xA Leisure Ocio (leisure) InfotainmentLifestyle Fritid hobbies (leisure hobbies) 0xB Special Toros (bulls)Special Characteristics 0xC Reserved Serie (series) Comedy 0xD ReservedAdulto (adult) Drama 0xE Reserved Religion Documentary 0xF User definedDrama

The invention provides an example standardized genre assignment schedulein Table 2 that resolves the mix of the genre assignments for thedifferent countries/regions. The schedule uses E-book as starting point(Table 4), and adds nibbles 0xB through 0xE according to the Spanishdefinition (Table 5), and nibble 0xF according to the UK D-bookdefinition (Table 7). A separate solution can be created for Australia,both for parental control and content description. New icons might beadded for Toros (bullfighting), Adulto (adult), and Religion. Moreover,one can use “movie” for serie, comedy and drama. One can also use“educational” for documentary. Generally, the themes can be associatedwith small icons.

For the genre assignments in Spain (Table 5), the receiver 100 processesthe genre assignment data by interpreting the user-nibbles first. If theuser-nibbles are set to 0x0 (undefined), then the standard contentnibbles are interpreted. All other countries interpret the standardcontent nibbles, mapping them to standardized genre assignments such asthe example assignments shown in Table 2. Table 2 is used wheninterpreting only level 1. According to the Home Audio VideoInteroperability (HAVi) consortium, a level 1 user interface uses a datadriven interaction for the intermediate AV Device (IAV). A level 2 userinterface uses Java for the more advanced full AV device (FAV).

Note that the use of one or more nibbles to map a program to astandardized genre is an example only, as many variations are possible.

TABLE 2 Standardized Genre Assignments Nibble: Genre: 0x00 Undefined0x01 Movie/Drama 0x02 News/Current affairs 0x03 Show/Game show 0x04Sports 0x05 Children's/Youth programs 0x06 Music/Ballet/Dance 0x07Arts/Culture without music 0x08 Social/Political issues/Economics 0x09Education/Science/Factual topics 0x0A Leisure/Hobbies 0x0B Bullfighting(ESP) 0x0C Series (ESP) 0x0D Adult (ESP) 0x0E Religion (ESP) 0x0F Drama(UK)

The genres 0x0B through 0x0F have a code attached to indicate thecountry they come from. Under normal circumstances these genres willonly be used in the respective countries.

Table 3 provides the syntax of the E-book content descriptors. Theversion of the E-book/EN 300 468 standard used is discussed in EACEMTechnical Report, Number TR-030 version 1.1, 7 Apr. 2000, and ETSE EN300 468 v1.4.1, November 2000, respectively. The recommended descriptoris as defined in EN 300 468. The intention of the content descriptor isto provide classification information for an event.

The content_descriptor( ) includes a total of four nibbles (two DVB, twoUSER). Such a combination of two nibbles allows for 2 levels of userinterfaces: a level 1 interface that only uses the first nibble, and alevel 2 interface using the second nibble, allowing an extra subdivisionper given theme or genre.

TABLE 3 E-book Content Descriptor Syntax No. of bits Identifiercontent_descriptor( ){   descriptor_tag 8 uimsbf   descriptor_length 8uimsbf   for (i=0;i<N;i++) {     content_nibble_level_1 4 uimsbf    content_nibble_level_2 4 uimsbf     user_nibble 4 uimsbf    user_nibble 4 uimsbf   } }

The semantics of the content descriptors are as follows.

content_nibble_level_(—)1: This 4-bit field represents the first levelof a (standard) content identifier. This field should be coded accordingto Table 4.

content_nibble_level_(—)2: This 4-bit field represents the second levelof a (standard) content identifier. This field should be coded accordingto Table 4.

user_nibble: This 4-bit field is defined by the broadcaster.

Table 4 provides example E-book genre assignments and, morespecifically, genre assignments for Content_nibble levels 1 and 2.

TABLE 4 E-book genre assignments Content_nibble_level_1Content_nibble_level_2 Description 0x0 0x0 to 0xF undefined contentMovie/Drama: Movie/Drama: 0x1 0x0 movie/drama (general) 0x1 0x1detective/thriller 0x1 0x2 adventure/western/war 0x1 0x3 sciencefiction/fantasy/horror 0x1 0x4 comedy 0x1 0x5 soap/melodrama/folkloric0x1 0x6 romance 0x1 0x7 serious/classical/religious/historicalmovie/drama 0x1 0x8 adult movie/drama 0x1 0x9 to 0xE reserved for futureuse 0x1 0xF user defined News/Current affairs: News/Current affairs: 0x20x0 news/current affairs (general) 0x2 0x1 news/weather report 0x2 0x2news magazine 0x2 0x3 documentary 0x2 0x4 discussion/interview/debate0x2 0x5 to 0xE reserved for future use 0x2 0xF user defined Show/Gameshow: Show/Game show: 0x3 0x0 show/game show (general) 0x3 0x1 gameshow/quiz/contest 0x3 0x2 variety show 0x3 0x3 talk show 0x3 0x4 to 0xEreserved for future use 0x3 0xF user defined - ETSI Sports: Sports: 0x40x0 sports (general) 0x4 0x1 special events (Olympic Games, World Cupetc.) 0x4 0x2 sports magazines 0x4 0x3 football/soccer 0x4 0x4tennis/squash 0x4 0x5 team sports (excluding football) 0x4 0x6 athletics0x4 0x7 motor sport 0x4 0x8 water sport 0x4 0x9 winter sports 0x4 0xAequestrian 0x4 0xB martial sports 0x4 0xC to 0xE reserved for future use0x4 0xF user defined Children's/Youth programs: Children's/Youthprograms: 0x5 0x0 children's/youth programs (general) 0x5 0x1 pre-schoolchildren's programs 0x5 0x2 entertainment programs for 6 to 14 0x5 0x3entertainment programs for 10 to 16 0x5 0x4informational/educational/school programs 0x5 0x5 cartoons/puppets 0x50x6 to 0xE reserved for future use 0x5 0xF user definedMusic/Ballet/Dance: Music/Ballet/Dance: 0x6 0x0 music/ballet/dance(general) 0x6 0x1 rock/pop 0x6 0x2 serious music/classical music 0x6 0x3folk/traditional music 0x6 0x4 jazz 0x6 0x5 musical/opera 0x6 0x6 ballet0x6 0x7 to 0xE reserved for future use 0x6 0xF user defined Arts/Culturewithout music): Arts/Culture (without music): 0x7 0x0 arts/culture(without music, general) 0x7 0x1 performing arts 0x7 0x2 fine arts 0x70x3 religion 0x7 0x4 popular culture/traditional arts 0x7 0x5 literature0x7 0x6 film/cinema 0x7 0x7 experimental film/video 0x7 0x8broadcasting/press 0x7 0x9 new media 0x7 0xA arts/culture magazines 0x70xB fashion 0x7 0xC to 0xE reserved for future use 0x7 0xF user definedSocial/Political issues/Economics: Social/Political issues/Economics:0x8 0x0 social/political issues/economics (general) 0x8 0x1magazines/reports/documentary 0x8 0x2 economics/social advisory 0x8 0x3remarkable people 0x8 0x4 to 0xE reserved for future use 0x8 0xF userdefined Children's/Youth programs: Children's/Youth programs:Education/Science/Factual topics: Education/Science/Factual topics: 0x90x0 education/science/factual topics (general) 0x9 0x1nature/animals/environment 0x9 0x2 technology/natural sciences 0x9 0x3medicine/physiology/psychology 0x9 0x4 foreign countries/expeditions 0x90x5 social/spiritual sciences 0x9 0x6 further education 0x9 0x7languages 0x9 0x8 to 0xE reserved for future use 0x9 0xF user definedLeisure hobbies: Leisure hobbies: 0xA 0x0 leisure hobbies (general) 0xA0x1 tourism/travel 0xA 0x2 handicraft 0xA 0x3 motoring 0xA 0x4 fitness &health 0xA 0x5 cooking 0xA 0x6 advertisement/shopping 0xA 0x7 gardening0xA 0x8 to 0xE reserved for future use 0xA 0xF user defined 0xB 0x0original language 0xB 0x1 black & white 0xB 0x2 unpublished 0xB 0x3 livebroadcast 0xB 0x4 to 0xE reserved for future use 0xB 0xF user defined0xC to 0xE 0x0 to 0xF reserved for future use 0xF 0x0 to 0xF userdefined

Table 5 provides genre assignments for Spain. The content nibbledefinition provided by DVB does not cover all the usual eventsbroadcasted in Spain. For example, there is no appropriate contentnibble for “Toros” or bullfighting (nibble 0xB). Moreover, some contentnibbles are too specific. For example, there is a unique content nibbleto describe western, adventure and war events. See level 2 nibbles 0xB,0xC, and 0xD, respectively, under level 1 nibble 0x1. To provide adescription that better matches the values needed in Spain, broadcastersand receivers are recommended to use user nibble values defined in Table5.

Broadcasters should still send the content nibble as defined in DVB,regardless if they are sending user nibble for that event. Receiversfollowing this specification should use the user nibble value instead ofthe content nibble when it is present. If no user nibble is present, thecontent nibble will be used. Broadcasters should avoid using othervalues than as defined since they will not have a meaning for receiversfollowing the present scheme.

TABLE 5 Spain genre assignments User User nibble nibble level 1Description level 2 Description 0x0 Sin definir 0x0 to Sin definir(undefined) 0xF 0x1 Cine (cinema) 0x0 general 0x1 suspense 0x2 Acción(action) 0x3 ciencia-ficción (science fiction) 0x4 Comedia (comedy) 0x5drama 0x6 Romántico (romantic) 0x7 Histórico (historic) 0x8 Erótico(erotic) 0x9 Musical 0xA Policíaco (police) 0xB Vaqueros (Western) 0xCAventuras (adventure) 0xD Bélico (war) 0xE Infantil (children) 0xFexperimental 0x2 Informativo 0x0 general (informative) 0x1 el tiempo(weather) 0x2 Actualidad (current events) 0x3 Diario (newspaper) 0x4Debate 0x5 Económico (economic) 0x6 to 0xF 0x3 Entretenimiento 0x0General (entertainment) 0x1 Concurso (contest) 0x2 Variedades (variety)0x3 Entrevistas (interviews) 0x4 Ofertas (promotions) 0x5 Debate 0x6Espectáculos (spectacles) 0x7 Divulgativos (divulging) 0x8 Teatro(theatre) 0x9 to 0xF 0x4 Deporte (sports) 0x0 General 0x1 eventoespecial (special events) 0x2 Informativo (informative) 0x3 Fútbol(soccer) 0x4 Tenis (tennis) 0x5 Atletismo (athletics) 0x6 Motor(automotive) 0x7 Acuáticos (aquatics) 0x8 de invierno (winter sports)0x9 equitación (equestrian) 0xA artes marciales (martial arts) 0xBBaloncesto (basketball 0xC golf 0xD Ciclismo (cycling) 0xE Naútico(boating) 0xF 0x5 Infantil 0x0 general (children's)_(—) 0x1 pre-escolar(pre-school) 0x2 Entretenimiento (entertainment) 0x3 Concurso (contest)0x4 Educativo (educational) 0x5 dibujos animados (cartoons) 0x6 to 0xF0x6 Música (music) 0x0 General 0x1 Concierto (concert) 0x2 Directo (liveevent) 0x3 Entrevista (interview) 0x4 Espectáculo (spectacle) 0x5 Videoclip 0x6 Ballet 0x7 to 0xF 0x7 Documental 0x0 General (documentary) 0x1Naturaleza (nature) 0x2 ciencia-tecnología (science-technology) 0x3Medicina (medicine) 0x4 Viajes (trips) 0x5 Sociológico (sociological)0x6 Educativo (educational) 0x7 Idiomas (langauges) 0x8 Actualidad(current events) 0x9 Arte (art) 0xA Histórico (history) 0xB Cultura(culture) 0xC Tradiciones (traditions) 0xD Comunicación (communication)0xE nuevos medios (new developments) 0xF 0x8 Magazine 0x0 general 0x1Cine (cinema) 0x2 Música (music) 0x3 Toros (bullfighting) 0x4 Fútbol(soccer) 0x5 Deportes (sports) 0x6 Actualidad (current events) 0x7Economía (economics) 0x8 Cultura (culture) 0x9 Literatura (literature)0xA Moda (fashion) 0xB to 0xF 0x9 Televentas (tele- 0x0 general sales)0x1 to 0xF 0xA Ocio (leisure) 0x0 general 0x1 Viajes (trips) 0x2Artesanía (crafts) 0x3 Motor (automotive) 0x4 Salud (health) 0x5 Cocina(cooking) 0x6 Compras (purchases) 0x7 Jardín (garden) 0x8 to 0xF 0xB 0x0general Toros 0x1 to (bullfighting) 0xF 0xC Serie (series) 0x0 general0x1 suspense 0x2 Acción (action) 0x3 ciencia-ficción (science- fiction)0x4 Comedia (comedy) 0x5 Drama 0x6 Romántico (romantic) 0x7 Histórico(historic) 0x8 Erótico (erotic) 0x9 Musical 0xA Policíaco (police) 0xBVaqueros (Western) 0xC aventuras (adventure) 0xD Bélico (war) 0xEInfantil (children's_(—) 0xF Experimental 0xD Adulto 0x0 General 0x1Hetero 0x2 Gay 0x3 to 0xF 0xE Religion 0x0 General 0x1 to 0xF 0xF 0x0 to0xF

Table 6 provides Australia genre assignments according to Digitaltelevision—Requirements for receivers Part 1: VHF/UHF DVB-T televisionbroadcasts, first published as AS 4933.1-2000. Draft—Ver 3 27 Aug. 2001.Note the Australian variation to DVB. Receivers may display, asrequired, a program's classification/genre type (e.g., genre) asidentified by the content_descriptor (Tag value 0x54) found in the EIT.Only the content_nibble_level_(—)1 is currently defined and is asfollows. Content_nibble_level_(—)2 and user_nibble are currently notdefined.

TABLE 6 Australia genre assignments Content_nibble_level_1 code_(—)Description 0x0 Undefined content 0x1 Movie 0x2 News 0x3 Entertainment0x4 Sport 0x5 Children's 0x6 Music 0x7 Arts/Culture 0x8 Current Affairs0x9 Education/Information 0xA Infotainment 0xB Special 0xC Comedy 0xDDrama 0xE Documentary 0xF Reserved - not defined

Table 7 provides the UK D-book genre assignments, e.g., the ProgramGenre Coding, according to Digital Terrestrial Television. Version 3:01,last updated 11 Feb. 2001. The coding of Table 7, from d-book: 8.5.2.2Content (Genre) Coding, identifies the genre or genre of the program(event). It is carried within the content descriptor of the EventInformation Table (EIT). The EIT provides program titles and technicaldata about the planned events on the virtual channels. Each event shouldbe given a maximum of one content description from the UK DTT list inTable 7. Codes are assigned in line: with Table 18 in ETS 300 468(content definition table), and mapped from the DVB service information(SI) table.

Content nibble level 1 only is significant. Content level 2 definessub-genres or sub-genres. Note that Drama is distinguished from Moviesby being assigned a User defined code (0xF0). If there is no contentcoding in conformance with Table 7 present for an event, the defaultcontent description “unclassified” applies. Note that contentdescriptors from other delivery media may use a different coding methodfor the content.

TABLE 7 UK D-book genre assignments DVB DescriptionContent_nibble_level_1 (for information only) DTT Description 0x0Unclassified Unclassified 0x1 Movie/Drama Movie 0x2 News/Current affairsNews and Factual 0x3 Show/Game show Entertainment 0x4 Sports Sport 0x5Children's/Youth Children's programs 0x6 Music/Ballet/DanceEntertainment 0x7 Arts/Culture (without News and Factual music) 0x8Social/Political News and Factual Issues/Economics 0x9Education/Science/ Education Factual Topics 0xA Leisure hobbiesLifestyle 0xB Special Characteristics not supported 0xC to 0xE Reservedfor future use not supported 0xF user defined Drama

Table 8 provides Finland Genre Assignments based on Rules of operationof service information in the DTTV network, version 1.3, last updatedDec. 9, 2001. A third column can be defined for Finnish DTTV based onthe DVB genre description.

TABLE 8 Finland Genre Assignments Content_nibble_level_1 DVB Description(for information only) 0x0 Unclassified 0x1 Movie/Drama 0x2 News/Currentaffairs 0x3 Show/Game show 0x4 Sports 0x5 Children's/Youth programs 0x6Music/Ballet/Dance 0x7 Arts/Culture (without music) 0x8 Social/PoliticalIssues/Economics 0x9 Education/Science/Factual Topics 0xA Leisurehobbies 0XB Special Characteristics 0xC to 0xE Reserved for future use0xF user defined

Table 9 provides Sweden genre assignments based on Digital TerrestrialTV Receiver Specification Minimum Technical Requirements for the SwedishDigital Terrestrial Network, Revision 1.0, Date 2002-05-06. The ZapperIRD should handle all nibbles listed in the DVB SI specification (ETSIEN 300 468), but should at least be able to handle the content nibblelevel 1 coding listed in Table 9. If there is no content coding inconformance with the table present for an event, the default contentdescription “unclassified” should be assumed by the receiver.

TABLE 9 Sweden genre assignments Translation to be Level 1 Descriptionused in S-DTT 0x0 Unclassified Odefinierat 0x1 Movie Film 0x2News/Current Affairs Nyheter 0x3 Entertainment Nöje 0x4 Sport Sport 0x5Children's/Youth Barn 0x6 Music Musik 0x7 Culture (without music) Kultur0x8 Social/political Issues/ Politik Economics 0x9 Education/ScienceUtbildning 0xA Leisure hobbies Fritid 0xB Not supported 0xC-0xE Reservedfor future use 0xF User defined

Table 10 illustrates a content description behavior specified in 3.3.5“Long zap banner” and appendix B “Supported themes”—MMI-FRS Zapper & ESGv6.2: (AR6-920078 KD/C6S13, status: approved). E-bookcontent_nibble_(—)1 is made visible through an icon. Content_nibble_(—)2is not supported. Content_nibble_(—)1 value 0x0B (Specialcharacteristics) and 0x0F (User defined) have no icon defined.Differences from the E-book specification are indicated.

A suggested solution for content description is to only supportcontent_nibble_(—)1, and use a table for nibble 1 per country. Thisintroduces a lot of new strings (supported countries×16×osd languages),but covers everything. The addition of content_nibble_(—)2 introducesnumerous strings. Also, we seem to use only content_nibble_(—)1 as aninteger (int) throughout our code.

For Spain, the specification is just draft. It is not clear whether theywill also transmit the content_nibble_(—)1. If not, only interpretuser_nibble_(—)1 as content_nibble_(—)1. This will take quite some work,simply to retrieve the user_nibble_(—)1.

The column entitled “missing” denotes that no definition has beenprovided for the data indicated in the associated country. The missing“Content_nibble_(—)2” is of no concern for receivers that only interpret“Content_nibble_(—)1”.

TABLE 10 Country: Missing: France Content_nibble_2 Spain Complete usernibble 1 & 2 interpretation Portugal ? Italy ? Netherlands ? AustraliaContent_nibble_1 interpreted differently UK Content_nibble_1 interpreteddifferently Norway Content_nibble_2 Finland Content_nibble_2 SwedenContent_nibble_2, however minimum is covered

FIG. 2 illustrates a method for providing genre assignments, accordingto the invention. Genre data may be carried in a digital datatransmission in the standard content nibbles or user nibbles, in onepossible approach. For example, most countries use the standard contentnibbles while currently Spain uses the user nibbles. Block 200 states“receive digital transmission.” Thus, a digital television or otherdigital data transmission is received by a receiver. Block 210 asks“user nibbles defined?” If they are defined, processing continues atblock 220, which states “decode user nibbles”. This is done to recoverthe original genre data for a program. The country associated with thedata transmission may also be determined, e.g., based on the term ONI,which is the Original Network Id (original_network_id) from theassociated country. Based on the country or other jurisdiction, thecorresponding genre assignment schedule or table can be determined.

If the user nibbles are not defined at block 210, processing continuesat block 230, which states “decode standard nibbles.” This is done torecover the original genre data for a program. After processing atblocks 220 or 230, processing continues at block 240, which states “mapnibbles to standardized themes/genres.” Here, the nibbles are mapped togenres in the standardized genre assignment schedule, e.g., per Table 2.Note that the receiver can determine from the received transmissionwhether it needs to interpret the user nibbles or standard contentnibbles.

The use of nibbles as discussed to identify and map genres is only onepossible implementation. Other implementations will be apparent to thoseskilled in the art in view of the teachings herein. Generally, any datathat identifies the genre of a program can be interpreted and mapped.

While there has been shown and described what are considered to bepreferred embodiments of the invention, it will, of course, beunderstood that various modifications and changes in form or detailcould readily be made without departing from the spirit of theinvention. It is therefore intended that the invention not be limited tothe exact forms described and illustrated, but should be construed tocover all modifications that may fall within the scope of the appendedclaims.

1. A method for providing standardized genre assignments, the methodcomprising: receiving at least a first digital data transmission,wherein at least one program in the first digital data transmission isassociated with a genre according to a first genre assignment schedule;identifying a jurisdiction associated with the first genre assignmentschedule; obtaining data from the first digital data transmission thatidentifies the associated genre, wherein the data that identifies anassociated genre is carried in standard content data or user data, andwherein obtaining data further includes decoding user data to recoveroriginal genre data associated with a given program of the at least oneprogram if the user data are defined, else if user data are not defined,then decoding standard content data to recover the original genre dataassociated with the given program of the at least one program; andmapping the at least one program to a genre in a standardized genreassignment schedule according to (i) the identified jurisdictionassociated with the first genre assignment schedule and (ii) theassociated genre identified from the data of the first digital datatransmission, wherein the standardized genre assignment schedule isconfigured to resolve a mix of genre assignments for different countriesand regions.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the identifying of thejurisdiction comprises obtaining data from the first digital datatransmission that identifies a country.
 3. The method of claim 1,wherein the identifying of the jurisdiction comprises obtaining a usersetting that identifies a country.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein thestandard content data comprises a standard content nibble thatidentifies the associated genre.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein theuser data comprises a user nibble that identifies the associated genre.6. A method for providing standardized genre assignments, the methodcomprising: receiving at least a first digital data transmission,wherein at least one program in the first digital data transmission isassociated with a genre according to a first genre assignment schedule;identifying a jurisdiction associated with the first genre assignmentschedule; obtaining data from the first digital data transmission thatidentifies the associated genre, wherein the obtaining of data comprisesobtaining a user nibble, if available, that identifies the associatedgenre, and, if the user nibble is not available, obtaining a standardcontent nibble that identifies the associated genre; and mapping the atleast one program to a genre in a standardized genre assignment scheduleaccording to (i) the identified jurisdiction associated with the firstgenre assignment schedule and (ii) the associated genre identified fromthe data of the first digital data transmission, wherein thestandardized genre assignment schedule is configured to resolve a mix ofgenre assignments for different countries and regions.
 7. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the first digital data transmission is providedaccording to a Digital Video Broadcasting standard.
 8. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the first digital data transmission comprises at leastone of audio and video data.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein the firstdigital data transmission is received at least one of a television and aset-top box.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein the first digital datatransmission is provided in at least one of a broadcast, multicast andstreaming content.
 11. A program storage device tangibly embodying aprogram of instructions executable by a machine to perform a method forproviding standardized genre assignments, the method comprising:receiving at least a first digital data transmission, wherein at leastone program in the first digital data transmission is associated with agenre according to a first genre assignment schedule; identifying ajurisdiction associated with the first genre assignment schedule;obtaining data from the first digital data transmission that identifiesthe associated genre, wherein the data that identifies an associatedgenre is carried in standard content data or user data, and whereinobtaining data further includes decoding user data to recover originalgenre data associated with a given program of the at least one programif the user data are defined, else if user data are not defined, thendecoding standard content data to recover the original genre dataassociated with the given program of the at least one program; andmapping the at least one program to a genre in a standardized genreassignment schedule according to (i) the identified jurisdictionassociated with the first genre assignment schedule and (ii) theassociated genre identified from the data of the first digital datatransmission, wherein the standardized genre assignment schedule isconfigured to resolve a mix of genre assignments for different countriesand regions.
 12. A receiver, comprising: means for receiving at least afirst digital data transmission, wherein at least one program in thefirst digital data transmission is associated with a genre according toa first genre assignment schedule; means for identifying a jurisdictionassociated with the first genre assignment schedule; means for obtainingdata from the first digital data transmission that identifies theassociated genre, wherein the data that identifies an associated genreis carried in standard content data or user data, and wherein obtainingdata further includes decoding user data to recover original genre dataassociated with a given program of the at least one program if the userdata are defined, else if user data are not defined, then decodingstandard content data to recover the original genre data associated withthe given program of the at least one program; and means for mapping theat least one program to a genre in a standardized genre assignmentschedule according to (i) the identified jurisdiction associated withthe first genre assignment schedule and (ii) the associated genreidentified from the data of the first digital data transmission, whereinthe standardized genre assignment schedule is configured to resolve amix of genre assignments for different countries and regions.
 13. Areceiver, comprising: a tuner for receiving at least a first digitaldata transmission, wherein at least one program in the first digitaldata transmission is associated with a genre according to a first genreassignment schedule; and a control associated with the tuner forexecuting instructions to identify a jurisdiction associated with thefirst genre assignment schedule, obtain data from the first digital datatransmission that identifies the associated genre, and map the at leastone program to a genre in a standardized genre assignment scheduleaccording to (i) the identified jurisdiction associated with the firstgenre assignment schedule and (ii) the associated genre identified fromthe data of the first digital data transmission, wherein thestandardized genre assignment schedule is configured to resolve a mix ofgenre assignments for different countries and regions, wherein the datathat identifies an associated genre is carried in standard content dataor user data, and wherein executing instructions to obtain data furtherincludes executing instructions to decode user data to recover originalgenre data associated with a given program of the at least one programif the user data are defined, else if user data are not defined, thendecode standard content data to recover the original genre dataassociated with the given program of the at least one program.
 14. Thereceiver of claim 13, wherein the control executes the instructions toidentify the jurisdiction by obtaining data from the first digital datatransmission that identifies a country.
 15. The receiver of claim 13,wherein the control executes the instructions to identify thejurisdiction by obtaining a user setting that identifies a country. 16.The receiver of claim 13, wherein the standard content data comprises astandard content nibble that identifies the associated genre.
 17. Thereceiver of claim 13, wherein the user data comprises a user nibble thatidentifies the associated genre.
 18. A receiver, comprising: a tuner forreceiving at least a first digital data transmission, wherein at leastone program in the first digital data transmission is associated with agenre according to a first genre assignment schedule; and a controlassociated with the tuner for executing instructions to identify ajurisdiction associated with the first genre assignment schedule, obtaindata from the first digital data transmission that identifies theassociated genre, and map the at least one program to a genre in astandardized genre assignment schedule according to (i) the identifiedjurisdiction associated with the first genre assignment schedule and(ii) the associated genre identified from the data of the first digitaldata transmission, wherein the standardized genre assignment schedule isconfigured to resolve a mix of genre assignments for different countriesand regions, wherein the control executes the instructions to obtain thedata by obtaining a user nibble, if available, that identifies theassociated genre, and, if the user nibble is not available, obtaining astandard content nibble that identifies the associated genre.